Charger Arts & Entertainment

Two local bands take audiences by surprise

Senka Hadzimuratovic, Charger Staff

“Are you tired? ‘Cause you’ve been running through my mind all day.” That gets my vote for pickup line of the year! Now put it together with a few more phrases (much like this one, sometimes sweeter) and you have No Reserve’s song, “Celestial,” (written by Kyle Fuller) the first track on their CD, We Come to Rock…. 

You’ve seen the flyers – PUNK SHOW – all over school. But who are you going to see? No Reserve, a band of four (two high school seniors and two who recently graduated) with loads of potential. Fuller (vocals, guitar), Rod Miller (guitar, and the band’s very own “proofreader”), Blake Nabors (vocals, bass guitar), and Jason Sebastian (drums) make up this “melodic pop punk” quartet.

The boys, inspired by bands like Greenday and Blink 182, have been together for almost two years. They’ve just recently started performing again after a long break and are ready to take our local scene by storm.

Fun-loving and dedicated, No Reserve deserves a little shining spotlight. Their shows, like most punk rockers would know, are filled with jumping, sweaty bodies and crowd surfers galore. And, not to forget, the Jurassic Park theme song – their trademark ending to every show.

The CD took me by surprise. I didn’t expect the quality of production for a first release. Nabors’ and Fuller’s lyrics make you think of that one special person – in good and bad ways (depending on the song), and the music makes you anticipate their next show where you’re free to jump your heart out. 

This was just a little intro. Expect to hear more about this band in the upcoming months.

Although Fuller and Miller are graduating this year and will be attending college, the band still plans on staying together and maybe even touring with Oscar’s Downfall and North Carolina band Better Yett in the summer.

Meanwhile, check out their web site, http://www.noreserveonline.com, and look forward to the day it’s no longer under construction!

It’s 11:30 PM on a Monday night, and I’ve basically got the whole week ahead of me. Yet I can’t sleep because I’ve got this song stuck in my head…and I wish I knew all the lyrics because for now I’m stuck on, “Do you care about my feelings?”

I can just picture Chad Hafner, lead singer of Oscar’s Downfall, mic in hand, head tilted back/forward/up/down/whatever, belting out this line from the band’s single, “Emotional Teenage Drama.”

Oscar’s Downfall, another local punk band and also the victim of my first band expose back in October, is back and better than ever.

After the return of drummer Justin Lee from an internship in California, the boys are ready to rock…again. Playing shows on a weekly basis, this quintet of punk rockers is making quite the move.

Andrew Goodman (bass guitar), Justin Lee (drums), Chad Hafner (vocals), Travis Temples (guitar), and Buddy Sells (guitar) have the energy it takes for a band like this to succeed.

OD’s most recent CD, The $200 EP, is being showcased around Middle Tennessee by the five guys through constant gigs in coffee shops, bars, and other venues.

With Hafner’s unique vocals (backed up by Goodman and Temples) and the other boys’ instrumental skills, each song becomes a favorite, especially after brilliant live performances.

Taking a look at the lyrics, you’ll see that there’s at least one song on this CD that relates to your current emotions or past memories. However, only after seeing the songs performed at a show can you truly judge The $200 EP.

As with most punk bands, it’s the show that makes or breaks them – capturing Oscar’s Downfall’s energy on a disc is impossible.

I suggest catching them live (visit www.oscarsdownfall.com and get on the mailing list to find out about shows), as I’ve done repeatedly, before making a final judgment.